In the four years I've been going to regional and off season events this was by far the best. From the moment we arrived to the end of the final match just before midnight
it was a great time. Congratulations to the Chris and Andy and all the volunteer staff that made this happen.
We had a great Friday leaving high the rankings and with our VEX roboteer Jack winning the Swept Away event (Thanks Karthik for running it). The dinner was good, I'm impressed how well that went feeding all of us. I loved the talent show, the running commentary from the judges added to the event. "Yikes!"
Saturday was great starting off with the NEMO meeting. I'm a EMO-NEM (Engineering MentOr-Non Engineering Mentor) and I got a number of good ideas of things to do for 2010-2011.
The morning matches were great with a 5 way hang, a suspension and of course a 6V0. Paul was great as the MC keeping the crowd and the roboteers excited.
Lunch of a 5 Way Skyline Chili with Exploding Bacon is where I got a first hand introduction to the "Oink Oink Boom!"
I got to play in the Mentor Match against some pretty tough competition thanks to the other mentors that played.
The matches during the afternoon were amazing. Multiple 5 way hangs, suspensions and the final match. The level of play was amazing. The skills of the drive teams and the agility of the robots was huge.
I was also able to meet a number of people that I had planned on, but I was hugely impressed by all the roboteers in the pits. Every pit that I visited I was impressed by how much the students knew and could explain how everthing worked. I have a notebook full of ideas for both robots and pit setups.
Conversation on the way home was about planning to come next year!
Thanks again for a great event!